Department of Parks enjoyed their annual Christmas party courtesy of an unlikely source this year.After staff were informed the annual event had been cancelled, senior parks Superintendent Stephen Furbert turned to the Garden Club of Bermuda for assistance.Parks had enjoyed a close working relationship with the charity for many years. Mr Furbert asked if members would assist towards the cost of staff hosting a party themselves.Explained floral art chairperson Cindy Young: “Stephen happened to come by when we were finishing an executive meeting, and said that the Parks Department staff had just been informed they would not be having their annual Christmas party this year.”The annual event has been eagerly looked forward to all year, she added.“I really thought we should do something because the Parks staff do so much for us in the gardens,” Miss Young said. “They have about 120 people who don’t get to see each other very often because they work at various locations around the Island.”Given Mr Furbert’s estimated cost of food for the gathering, Miss Young agreed to take up his request with her fellow Garden Club members.As it happened, the next meeting would be a special Christmas one, whereby members donated items to raffle as a fundraiser for the Club’s work. Miss Young suggested that, in view of the all the assistance parks department staff had voluntarily given to the club over the years, and the fact that many of the staff had been recipients of the Club’s horticultural scholarships from which Bermuda’s beauty benefited, a one-off donation towards the Christmas party would be a way of showing its appreciation.Thanks to the members’ enthusiastic support, the raffle raised enough money for the Club to donate a little more than was originally envisaged.Needless to say, news that this assistance would help to make the Christmas party a reality was received with great joy by the Parks department staff.“We were extremely thankful to the Garden Club of Bermuda for providing assistance to the Department of Parks so that we could come together and enjoy a departmental lunch at no cost to taxpayers. This is the one time of year when all Parks staff come together for food, friendship and fun,” Mr Furbert said.“Our partnership with the Garden Club has gone from strength to strength over the years, and we are extremely grateful to them for this most recent gesture, and for their partnering with us on other occasions. In particular, I would like to mention the assistance the Club gave to us for the Chelsea Flower Show, when they paid for all of the employees’ hotel fees.”